Setting

Store Street Manchester M1 2WD T 0300 123 1231 www.gov.uk/ofsted

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Petra Jones Acting Headteacher Winterbourne Nursery and Infant School Winterbourne Rd Thornton Heath Croydon CR7 7QT

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Ofsted visit to Winterbourne Nursery and Infant School

Following my visit with Adam Vincent, Her Majesty’s Inspector (HMI), to your school on 3 December 2020, I write on behalf of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills to confirm the visit’s findings. Thank you for the time you made available to discuss your actions since September 2020, when the government expected all schools to open fully to all pupils.

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Ofsted visit to Winterbourne Nursery and Infant School

This visit was conducted under section 8 of the Education Act 2005 (as amended) and in accordance with Ofsted’s published procedures for visiting schools while routine inspections are temporarily suspended.

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Ofsted visit to Winterbourne Nursery and Infant School

Ofsted’s visits to schools during the autumn term are not inspections. We are not giving graded judgements. We did not undertake the usual range of inspection activities and were unable to check other sources of evidence, such as visits to lessons or looking at pupils’ work. The content of this letter gives an overview of our discussions about what has happened in your school this term.

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Ofsted visit to Winterbourne Nursery and Infant School

During the visit, we spoke to you, the senior leadership team and the leader responsible for safeguarding. We did not speak to pupils because of the protective measures in place.

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Context

Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills is leading Ofsted’s work into how England’s education system is managing the return to full education for pupils, following an extended break in formal schooling due to the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic.

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Context

In undertaking this focused work, HMI are visiting a broad range of schools. HMI will visit a sample of:

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Context

 approximately 1,200 schools across all Ofsted grades (outstanding, good, requires improvement and inadequate)  maintained schools, academies and free schools, special schools and centres of alternative provision, including those in cities, and coastal, town or rural communities.

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Context

The information from this visit will feed into Ofsted’s national reporting so that the insights can be shared with the government and the education sector. We did not find any significant concerns during the visit. In such a case, an inspection report would be published on our website and available to parents and carers.

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Context

We did not consider your response to COVID-19 during the spring and summer terms 2020, when the school was not open to all pupils.

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

 No classes or year groups have had to learn from home since the school reopened in September 2020.  All pupils are studying their usual range of subjects. In Nursery and Reception, teachers are giving extra time to developing children’s social skills and communication and language. All pupils are having extra lessons in physical education to improve their fitness levels.  Teachers have checked pupils’ phonic knowledge and fluency in reading. They found that many pupils could not recall some letter sounds or understand simple text. Teachers have adapted their teaching to cover the letter sounds some pupils have forgotten and to give more time to practising comprehension skills.  In mathematics, teachers have tested pupils’ understanding of the curriculum from the spring and summer terms. They found that a large proportion of pupils have fallen behind in their understanding of number. They aim to rebuild pupils’ knowledge by changing the starting points of their teaching in

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

this academic year.  In the wider curriculum, leaders have prioritised personal, social and health education. Leaders found pupils have returned to school much less confident in social skills and independence. Teachers have planned activities that allow pupils to practise these areas.  Leaders have delivered remote education in the form of printed work packs and recorded videos which are accessed through the school website. The main barrier to providing remote education has been that many families can only access the internet through a smartphone. In addition, many families are not confident in supporting their children’s learning, particularly in English.  Leaders decided on their approach to remote education because it was accessible to most families through a smartphone. Staff have contacted families not accessing the work to give support.

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

Thank you again for contributing to this important national work. The views and experiences you have shared will help to inform future policy.

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Croydon. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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